Transubstantiation - The change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
Consecration- The part of the Mass/Eucharist where the bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ.
The Eucharist is another word for Mass. It is the greatest formal act of worship and thanksgiving for Catholics.
· the most important act of Christian worship
· when God turns the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ
· when Christians receive the body and blood of Christ, and spiritual gifts from God
· when Christians are forgiven less serious (venial) sins
· strength for living out Christian life
· a remembrance of Jesus’ death and resurrection
· a celebration of Christ’s victory over death
· a thanksgiving for God’s gifts of the earth
· an occasion when Christians show that they are part of a community, by praying and worshipping together
· an occasion when Christians show their concern about others in their prayers
You do not need to know the order of mass off by heart, but you should know the main things that happen during the Mass.
1. Greeting & penitential rite (welcome and asking forgiveness for your sins)
2. Liturgy of the word: Bible readings and homily
3. Creed (Statement of Christian belief ‘I believe in one God....) and the prayers of the faithful (Bidding prayers)
4. Offertory- bread, wine and gifts (collection)
5. Eucharistic prayer (When the bread and wine are consecrated)
6. Our Father; sign of peace; ‘Lamb of God’
7. Communion (receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine)
8. Blessing and command to ‘Love and serve the Lord.’
Roman Catholics believe that the Mass is the starting point for their Christian life. They must then go out in to the world to ‘love and serve the Lord’, in other words they must help those in need in their local community and in the world wide community. Christians learn from the teaching of Jesus (e.g. The Sheep & Goats, the Sermon on the Mount, the Parable of the Good Samaritan) that it is their responsibility to help those in need in the world. Jesus healed the sick, and was always more concerned about the poor and outcasts from society than he was about the rich and those who were comfortably off.
The World can be broadly divided into two very different parts.
The North (USA, Europe, Australia) or more economically developed countries, and The South (South America, Africa, India), the developing or ‘third’ world, the less economically developed countries.
There are very great contrasts between these two ‘worlds’. The Developed World has 20% of the world’s people, but uses 80% of the world’s resources. The developing world is heavily in debt to the richer countries – many African nations spend more on debt repayments than they receive in aid or they spend on health care or education.
CAFOD is the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, they help in providing short term aid for emergency relief (E.g. for famine, drought, flood) and for long term aid (Helping people in their own communities fend for themselves).
The principal aim of Cafod is to help people to help themselves, so they fund projects to provide wells for communities, to help develop local agriculture, to educate people so that they can improve their own situation. One motto of Cafod is ‘Give a man a fish and he can feed himself for a day – teach a man to fish and he will feed himself and his family for life.’
Cafod and other Christian organisations have been very involved in campaigns to reduce the burden of debt which is carried by the developing world.
Parable of the Talents Mt. 25: 14-30
Use the talents that God has given you
Sheep and the Goats Mt. 25: 31-46
There will be a judgement - those who do not help those in need will be judged
The lost coin/sheep Lk 15: 1-10
God cares for everyone - he will doing anything to save someone for the kingdom
Sickness and healing James 5: 13-15
Pray for the sick and they will be healed
Unmerciful servant Mt. 18: 23-35
Be forgiving and generous and then God will be forgiving and generous to you.
1. The work of CAFOD
(a) Explain how the story of the Sheep and the Goats influences Christian attitudes to suffering from poverty in the developing world. (7)
(b) Christians believe that they have a responsibility to support charities like CAFOD. What reasons can they give to support this belief? (7)
(c) Do you think it is reasonable to expect Christians in rich countries to share their wealth with those in poorer countries? Give reasons for your answer etc (6)
2. The Eucharist
(a) Describe what happens at a Mass in a Catholic Church (7)
(b)"The mass should be a joyful occasion." Why do Roman Catholics believe this? (7)
(c)“Mass is outdated and should be modernised to appeal more to people of today.” Do you agree? Give reasons. (6)